


Ace of Cups

by muggle95



Series: The Star's Journey [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Behind the Scenes - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban, Canon Compliant, Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, Female Friendship, Gen, Hogwarts, fantasy racism - slurs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-20
Updated: 2019-03-20
Packaged: 2019-10-27 09:12:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17763968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muggle95/pseuds/muggle95
Summary: Two girls, each intending to cope with their problems by ignoring them and studying instead, meet in the libraryOrAstoria is happy to have someone to revise with who won't make fun of her for starting so early. Ginny is happy to have a friend who doesn't resent her for ignoring them last year





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [honeymink](https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeymink/gifts).



>   
> The Ace of Cups: a new friendship
> 
> Many many thanks to [copperscales](http://copperscales.tumblr.com/) for being a wonderful beta reader, and to [Mint](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mintchocolateleaves) for answering all my questions about British word choices and for suggesting other corrections. This work is significantly better thanks to their input.
> 
> And credit must also go back to honeymink for suggesting Astoria as a favorite character and getting me really thinking about her, leading to this fic and much more...

Astoria ran her fingers down the dusty spines on the bookshelf until they landed on the spine of _Preparing the Perfect Potion, fifth edition_. It was the only copy on the shelf, with a sizable gap beside it. She was looking for the seventh edition, and Daphne had assured her that there were several copies in the library, and that it was the best reference for the essays Professor Snape assigned in first year about techniques and ingredient preparation. She sighed and pulled the lone fifth edition off the shelf, adding it to her stack of other books Daphne had recommended, then turned to look for a table. There was one at the far end of the row she was standing in, occupied only by a girl with bright red hair, with a single book in front of her.

That table was conveniently in the middle of the potions section, and Astoria had never been one to shy away from making a new friend (most of them got tired of _her_ when she was unable to keep up with quidditch and other games, but she did her best), so a potential new friend at Hogwarts, where the worst someone could be was a mudblood, was certainly no deterrent.

“Excuse me,” she asked, already setting her books down. “Do you mind if I sit here too?”

The girl’s head shot up, brown eyes wide and wary, but she soon relaxed and offered a soft smile. “That’s fine.” She looked back down at her book, adjusting a piece of parchment she had tucked under the book so the next question on it became visible.

Astoria settled properly into a chair, with one empty seat in between them so that she wasn’t uncomfortably close. “I’m Astoria Greengrass,” she said, offering her hand.

“Ginny Weasley,” the girl answered, shaking her hand politely. Well, she was pureblood at least; Astoria’s mum wouldn’t kill her for the connection even if the Weasleys _were_ blood traitors.

They each worked quietly until Astoria had finished answering the first essay question and could no longer stand the silence. “Do you mind if I ask what you’re working on?” Weasley wasn’t in any of her classes, and between them she had met all the other first years, but it wouldn’t hurt to study with an older year, especially one motivated to come study this early in the weekend. Weasley didn’t appear to have written anything down, but studying early still represented ambition worthy of a Slytherin.

Weasley’s cheeks flushed, contrasting against her bright hair. “Er. I’m studying some of the work from last year – first year. I don’t… My memory’s kind of spotty so I wanted to make sure I’m not behind.” As she stammered out her explanation, the blush slowly spread until it was covering nearly her entire face, including her forehead and the tips of her ears.

“Oh, how responsible of you,” Astoria said warmly. Weasley frowned at her, but relaxed when she realized Astoria wasn’t teasing. Astoria offered Weasley her best reassuring smile. “It must be stressful not to remember things.” Astoria certainly had her own weaknesses that she intended to make up for by studying hard enough to be the best student in her year.

Weasley returned the smile, though it seemed forced. “Yeah, it’s _stressful_.” Her face twisted briefly in distaste. “Fortunately I know a lot more than I ever remember learning.”

“That’s good. So you remember the difference between chopping and dicing, right?” Astoria teased, parroting the prompt to the one essay question she had answered. After the words came out of her mouth, she realized that she hadn’t asked if Weasley actually wanted to be quizzed. Daphne took surprise-quizzing well, but her friend Pansy always seemed offended that anyone _dared_ question her knowledge.

Fortunately, Weasley didn’t seem upset. “Dicing requires that all the edges be flat, and cut at square angles to the other edges, and the pieces can range from one half to three quarters inches long. Chopping allows for rounded, uncut edges, for example on ginger root, and pieces may be as large as one inch long. Also, with the example of ginger root, all standard preparation techniques will assume you have peeled the root before beginning, unless the potion calls specifically for ‘unpeeled’ ginger root,” she recited. “But I just read that a few minutes ago so who knows if I would know it during an exam.” She flashed a teasing smile in return, mock-scolding, “You should really come up with your own answers to those essay questions, you know.”

“I’ve answered that question already,” Astoria retorted. “But where did you get that detail about peeling ginger root?” That sounded worth adding to her essay, which was on the short end of long enough.

Weasley flipped backwards through the book in front of her, and pointed at a paragraph. “It’s here, in _Preparing the Perfect Potion_. The same goes for ‘any ingredient with a skin, peel, or rind’ that is ‘substantially different’ from the rest of the ingredient, with the exception of eyes, like newts’ eyes, which should start whole.”

Astoria glanced over the paragraph, which explained what Weasley had but with stiffer wording, then found the same section in her copy and frowned when she realized there was hardly a sentence there. “What edition is that? This one only says ‘All solid ingredients shall be reduced to their pure form before a technique is performed,’” She shook her head, disgusted. “I wouldn’t have a _clue_ what that means without reading your copy”

Weasley shrugged, then flipped to the title page of her book, using her whole hand as a bookmark to keep her place. “Er, seventh.” She flipped back to the page she’d been holding. “You can share if you want?” she offered.

Astoria grinned. “Thanks. I can quiz you on anything else if you’d like, as long as you can show me where to look up the answer.” She could learn enough by revising with a second year to stay a step ahead of her classmates.

Weasley smiled a little more genuinely. “I’d like that.”


	2. Art

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the tarot card arguably counts towards the graphics requirement for purimgifts, but in the spirit of the gift exchange, have some original fun and bright graphics
> 
> (all can be standalone abstract art, but also tile smoothly for use as backgrounds or other desired presentation)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [This site](https://www.imgonline.com.ua/eng/check-texture-tiling.php) can be used to generate tiled images if desired

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
